Until 8 p.m. includes Twin Cities area

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sharply rebuked U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Saturday, a day after 

 saying European leaders should not shun far-right political parties.

At the second day of the Munich Security Conference, Scholz spoke about the atrocities of the Holocaust, pointing out that Vance recently visited the Dachau concentration camp and used the phrase "never again."

Scholz emphasized that a commitment to "never again" also applies to political parties like Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party, also known as the AfD, which has downplayed the horrors of the Nazi regime.

He went on to say Germany will not accept outsiders intervening in the country's elections, adding: "That is not done, certainly not among friends and allies."

Both Scholz and Vance's remarks come just over a week before Germany heads into a major election. The AfD — which has been endorsed by Trump adviser and billionaire 

Founded in 2013, the AfD is a nationalist party whose political identity centers around blaming immigrants for many of Germany's problems. Germany's domestic intelligence agency has put the AfD 

under surveillance for suspected extremism

 during the World War II era to receive the most votes in a state election. But it has yet to be part of a federal governing coalition as a result of a pact — also known as a "firewall" — by other parties to refuse to work with the AfD. 

On Friday, Vance did not mention the AfD directly but said German parties should drop the "firewall" — much to the surprise and concern of European leaders in the room. 

"Europeans, the people, have a voice," Vance said in the speech. "You can embrace what your people tell you, even when it's surprising, even when you don't agree."

Vance also met with AfD leader Alice Weidel on Friday. He separately met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier; Friedrich Merz, the head of the center-right Christian Democratic Union party; as well as Scholz this past week. 

Politics and Government News

Homepage

International

Juliana Kim

Author

Rob Schmitz

Olaf Scholz rebuked U.S. Vice President JD Vance for suggesting that far-right parties should not be shut out of government. Germany's other political parties have refused to work with the far-right AfD.

German chancellor slams Vance's call for Europe to be inclusive of far-right parties

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox